Mill production at Nyrstar's Middle Tennessee zinc mining operations in the US has restarted ahead of its previously communicated schedule, with the mill processing 5,000 mt of zinc in concentrate in the period of May to June, the Belgium-based producer said Wednesday.
Operations were put into care and maintenance in December 2015, but in September last year the company said that "given the current strength in zinc prices and Nyrstar's expectation that these prices are sustainable," mining operations would be restarted.
The Middle Tennessee mines are forecast to reach full capacity of 50,000 mt/year of zinc in concentrate by November.
In January last year, the company formally launched the sale process for all or the majority of its mining assets, which at the time comprised the Campo Morado mine in Mexico; Contonga, Pucarrajo and Coricancha mines in Peru; El Mochito in Honduras; El Toqui in Chile; Langlois and Myra Falls in Canada; and the Tennessee Mines unit in the US.
At the end of H1 2017, Nyrstar had sold all five of its mining assets in Latin America for a total cash consideration of $72 million ($40 million upfront and $32 million in contingent milestone payments).
"During the course of H1 2017, Nyrstar has completed a full potential review of the North American mining portfolio and is rolling out optimisation plans for all four of the mining assets," the company said Wednesday in its half-year results statement.
"The mines, including the Myra Falls mine which is commencing its restart in August 2017, are positioned to ramp up to 200,000 mt per annum of zinc in concentrate production and deliver continued improvements in operating costs," the company said.
Nyrstar's continuing mining operations produced 53,000 mt of zinc in concentrate in H1 2017, up 6% from output of 50,000 mt in the year-earlier period.
